University of Minnesota Athletics
Softball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- mart1003@umn.edu
- Phone:
- 612-626-5594
Piper Ritter was named the eighth head coach in program history on May 3, 2020 after 13 seasons as the Gophers pitching coach. The 2024 season marks her fourth year as the Gopher head coach and 17th year with the program as a coach.
The Former Minnesota standout pitcher has developed five of the top hurlers in Minnesota softball history in Briana Hassett, Sara Moulton, Sara Groenewegen, Amber Fiser, and Autumn Pease.
Ritter has also developed top players outside of the circle in Sara Groenewegen, Kendyl Lindaman, and now Jess Oakland as 2024 Big Ten Player of the Year.
During her fourth season as head coach, the Golden Gophers finished the 2024 season with a fifth place conference finish. Minnesota saw four All-Big Ten selections, including two first team honorees in Taylor Krapf and Jess Oakland, and two second teamers in Sydney Strelow and Morgan DeBord. Oakland was named 2024 Big Ten Player of the Year and was also an NFCA Second Team All-American. Oakland is the third Gopher to receive All-American distinction in the last two seasons.
In 2023, Ritter led the Gophers to a third place conference finish, appearance in the Big Ten Tournament semi final and NCAA Seattle Regional berth as the No. 2 seed. Along with six All-Big Ten selections, the Gophers led the entire conference with five first team caliber players and Ritter’s fourth Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in Autumn Pease. Minnesota also had an All-American battery in Pease and Taylor Krapf, the first All-American selections since Amber Fiser in 2019.
In the shortened 2020 season, Ritter coached Amber Fiser and Autumn Pease each to Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors. She has coached Gophers to 42 Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors in her tenure. She has coached pitchers to five All-American honors, three Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors and has coached seventeen no-hitters.
Ritter helped take the Gophers to new heights in 2019 with the program's first ever Women's College World Series appearance in the NCAA era. A big reason for the Gophers success came from the circle. Ace Amber Fiser was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, First Team All-American, Honda Award Finalist, Academic All-District, broke school record and tied conference record with six Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors and was a two-time NFCA Pitcher of the Week honoree. Fiser finished second for most wins in a single season with 31 and third for strikeouts with 346 in 2019. She pitched every single inning of both the Minneapolis Regional and Super Regional. Ritter was part of her second NFCA Great Lakes Regional Coaching Staff of the Year honor to cap off a successful 2019 season.
In 2018, Ritter coached the Gophers to the 14th lowest ERA in the NCAA and second lowest in the Big Ten with a 1.90 mark as a staff. Ritter guided Amber Fiser to a 27-10 season with a 1.69 ERA as Fiser took on the role as the Gophers ace. Welcoming transfer Sydney Smith, who picked up the win in four of her last eight appearances, Ritter helped work Smith in to the Gophers rotation to form a strong starting staff along with Carlie Brandt who appeared in 16 games to go 7-2 with a 1.35 ERA.
Ritter coached the Gophers to the third lowest ERA in the NCAA in the 2017 season with a 1.19 ERA as a staff. With the success in the circle the Maroon and Gold went a program best 56-5 overall. They broke a record for longest win streak to start a season with 19 and longest win streak ever with 26 straight. Prior to the 2017 season the Gophers were never ranked in the top-10 in either major polls. They reached No. 1 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll and No. 3 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. They won their first regular season Big Te title since 1991 and their third Big Ten tournament championship in four years. Groenewegen went on to become the first Gopher to ever win All-American honors in three seasons after an impressive 2017 season. She went 31-4 with a 0.63 ERA and 307 strikeouts. The ERA was the second lowest in the NCAA and second lowest ever recorded in Gophers history. Besides Groenewegen, Ritter also mentored freshman Amber Fiser to a strong freshman season. Fiser went 14-0 with a 1.68 ERA and 83 strikeouts. Along with head coach Jessica Allister and associate head coach Jessica Merchant, Ritter was part of the NFCA Great Lakes Regional Coaching Staff of the Year in 2017.
As a staff in 2014 Moulton, Groenewegen, and Nikki Anderson set single-season school records for shutouts with 22 and strikeouts with 487, both marks put the Gophers in the top three nationally during which led Minnesota to post its winningest season in 15 years. That season the Gophers captured the Big Ten Tournament title, and seal its first-ever NCAA super regional berth, posting a team ERA of 2.00.
Top Hurlers
In 2023, under the tutor of Ritter, Pease became the third pitcher to be named an NFCA All-American and the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in the same season. She ended her fifth year 27-7 with a 1.46 ERA and 273 strikeouts and picked up four Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors. The fifth year was named to both the All-Big Ten First and All-Big Ten Tournament teams, including an NFCA Pitcher of the Week nod on May 9. Pease ended the season ranked No.1 in the Big Ten in victories, strikeouts, and ERA. Notably, Pease allowed one earned run in 58 innings pitched and saw 21 consecutive scoreless innings.
A member of the 2019 Women’s College World Series squad, Fiser was a force to be reckoned with in the circle. The 2019 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year was also named an NFCA First Team All-American. In 2019, she went 31-7 with a 1.17 ERA and 339 strikeouts. Her 31 wins on the season tied for second all-time in program history and also picked up six Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors, which set a new program record and tied a conference record. She became just third player in conference history to earn six Pitcher of the Week honors in the same season and the first since 2011. She pitched all 36 innings of the NCAA Regional and Super Regional leading the Gophers to their first ever Women's College World Series in the NCAA softball era.
In 2016 Groenewegen again was dominant in the circle under Ritter's guidance. She went 31-7 with a 2.03 ERA and 336 strikeouts. She threw three no-hitters including a perfect game against FAU. For the second straight year she earned NFCA All-American honors being named to the First Team and earned three national player of the week awards and five B1G Pitcher of the Week accolades. Ritter guided Groenewegen to Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors in 2014, making the White Rock, B.C. native the third player in conference history to win both awards in the same season. Groenewegen finished the season with the nation's top strikeouts-per-seven-innings rate at 11.6 and was a top-10 finalist for the inaugural NFCA Freshman of the Year Award. She helped Groenewegen become the third player in conference history to win Big Ten Player, Pitcher and Freshman of the Year awards in her career after another solid season in 2015. Groenewegen was named a NFCA Second-Team All-American and finished the season with an ERA of 1.67, best in the Big Ten. The 2015 Gophers had more strikeouts than any other season and posted a team ERA of 2.34. Groenewegen graduated as the all-time Gophers strikeout leader with 1,214 in her career.
Ritter helped Minnesota make a dramatic turnaround by mentoring Moulton, who left Minnesota with program records for wins (112), appearances (178), innings pitched (1,017), complete games (108), no-hitters (five), shutouts (47), and at the time strikeouts (1,184). Moulton went on to earn NFCA Second Team All-America honors after being selected fifth overall in the 2013 National Pro Fastpitch College Draft. She was a four-time All-Big Ten honoree, a top-25 finalist for the 2014 NFCA National Player of the Year Award, and was a top-30 finalist for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award.
As a staff in 2014 Moulton, Groenewegen, and Nikki Anderson set single-season school records for shutouts with 22 and strikeouts with 487, both marks put the Gophers in the top three nationally during which led Minnesota to post its winningest season in 15 years. That season the Gophers captured the Big Ten Tournament title, and seal its first-ever NCAA super regional berth, posting a team ERA of 2.00.
In 2013, Moulton set Minnesota's single-season wins record with a 32-12 record, and tied another record with 14 shutouts. The All-Big Ten First team selection threw two consecutive no-hitters during the season. Moulton led the Big Ten in ERA (1.57), strikeouts (308), wins (32), starts (45) and innings pitched (275.5).
Ritter also tutored Hassett to one of the best seasons in program history in 2009. Hassett set program records by racking up 414 strikeouts and pitching 39 complete games. Her strikeout mark was more than 100 better than the previous record, set in 2004 by Ritter. Hassett also spent 307.0 innings in the circle in 2009, becoming just the second Golden Gopher ever to pitch over 300 innings in a season. Hassett thrived in two seasons under Ritter, finishing among the top-five in six career pitching categories, including a school record 88 complete games.
Ritter guided Hassett to a record-breaking 2008 season in her first year in charge of Minnesota's pitching staff. Hassett went 21-8 with a 1.82 earned run average that season. At the time, Hassett's 276 strikeouts were the third-most in a single season in Minnesota history, trailing only Ritter's totals of 311 during 2003 and 301 during 2002.
Academic Success
Ritter has also been instrumental to Minnesota's success in the classroom, with 103 student-athletes earning Academic All-Big Ten honors since 2008.
Playing Career
During her four-year playing career with the Gophers (2001-04), Ritter became one of the most accomplished pitchers in program history. She left the university with career records for strikeouts (1,122), innings pitched (921.1), games (173), wins (88), shutouts (33), and complete games (85). Her career strikeout mark ranked third all-time in the Big Ten and 14th in NCAA history. Ritter threw a record-tying five career no-hitters for the Gophers, including two perfect games.
Ritter earned All-Big Ten honors all four years at Minnesota, including a first-team selection in 2003 when she posted 11 shutouts and what was then a single-season record 311 strikeouts. She also garnered NFCA All-Mideast Region accolades three times during her career and led the Gophers to the NCAA Regional Tournament two times (2002 and 2003).
Personal
Prior to joining the staff at Minnesota, Ritter served as pitching coach at the University of Northern Colorado for the 2006 season and was an assistant at North St. Paul High School during 2005. After graduating from Minnesota in 2004 with a degree in Kinesiology, she played and coached for one season in the Netherlands. Ritter also played one season in the National Pro Fastpitch League for the Texas Thunder, posting a 3-0 record with a 0.64 ERA.
